A Week is a Long Time in Football

Well, its been over a week since my last offering as I have been on a weeks break in Bulgaria, trying to cope with the ridiculous heat of over 100 degrees! So without wireless and just the back pages of the sports section to scan on the way to the beach my sports knowledge has been limited, which makes a week seem a long time in football. We have had Scholesy rolling back the years in the Charity Shield, Martin O’Neill do a runner from Villa, Gerrard rescuing England with a quick-fire double and Man City make another BIG signing. This is all before I even think about the opening day heroics of Blackpool – 4-0 winners at Wigan!

Well, it’s finally here, the Premier League is back! Missing the open day of the season yesterday kinda felt like going to church but missing the opening hymn, you don’t mind too much as you have the rest of the service ahead of you! The big day is today for myself and LFC fans, when a new look LFC take on Arsenal at Anfield. It’s a refreshing change to play our first game at home this season, even if it is against title challengers Arsenal. The most interesting news for me this week though is Manchester Citys signing of Mario Balotelli.

Im not sure if Balotelli was officially signed on Friday the 13th but it could set the tone for City, Balotelli has an ego the size of Mido’s appetite and could prove to be an absolute nightmare for City to keep happy (think Robinho times 10). He fell out with Mourinho and half the Inter team several times for behaviour which included lack of effort in training and even sporting an AC Milan top live on italian TV, even Balotelli has been criticized by his agent. The flip side to Balotelli is his talent on the pitch and explosive power (see balotelli montage) – rather a long clip but you get the idea.

This kind of pace and power could see him become a hero at City and one of the best strikers in the game, it seems like his game would be suited to the power and pace of the Premier League. The kid is still only 20 years old and has plenty of time to mature, as long as City can keep him out of a United shirt they could have one hell of a player on their hands.